Famous last words: the answers!

Boris Karloff as Frankenstein. Was this what Mary Shelley had in mind?

Man, we’ve got some astute readers in this town.

Yesterday, I posted a little quiz on final lines of classic novels. Many of you knew ALL the answers. (I confess, I did not. Sigh.)

So, I’m impressed. Here are the famous last words, along with their authors and titles:

1. It is a far, far better thing that I do than I have ever done before; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known. – Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

2. He was soon borne away by the waves and lost in darkness and distance. – Mary Shelley, Frankenstein

3. So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past. – F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

4. The offing was barred by a black bank of clouds, and the tranquil waterway leading to the utmost ends of the earth flowed somber under an overcast sky — seemed to lead into the heart of an immense darkness. – Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness

5. I lingered round them, under that benign sky, watched the moths fluttering among the heath and harebells, listened to the soft wind breathing through the grass, and wondered how any one could ever imagine unquiet slumbers for the sleepers in that quiet earth. – Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights

6. The broken flower drooped over Ben’s fist and his eyes were empty and blue and serene again as cornice and façade flowed smoothly once more from left to right, post and tree, window and doorway and signboard each in its ordered place. – William Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury